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So as you know, I stopped writing lengthy reviews on this site this year, keeping the blog as more of a film diary of sorts.  Lo and behold,...

Friday, October 25, 2013

Ramblings on Breaking Bad

The Netflix era has certainly created a "binge" era of television viewing in that many of us will now find ourselves plopping down on the sofa and watching three, four, five, or six episodes of a series at a time via their streaming service.  I'd heard great things about Breaking Bad, but about two years ago I watched the first episode of the AMC series, wasn't interested in the slightest, and I subsequently dropped it from my queue.  In the build-up to the final episode of the series at the end of September, there was a huge amount of buzz, but by the time I thought about trying to give the show another try, I was never going to finish in time to watch the finale live.  Still, with the critics and, more importantly, people I know personally waxing poetically about how the show was going out on an artistic high, I succumbed to the pressure and decided to give it another go.

Boy, am I glad I did.

If only for the performance of Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad should be must-see television.  Cranston completely inhabits the role of Walter White -- reserved chemistry teacher who, upon receiving a diagnosis of seemingly terminal cancer, turns to creating crystal meth for a quick money grab in order to provide for the long-term care of his family following his death.  As Walter gets deeper and deeper into the drug world, however, he finds it much more difficult to get out...not that he actually wants to leave once he realizes how amazing he is at creating the most pure addictive drug in the country.  With addicts and their dealers clamoring to get a hold on Walter's superior product, his personality shifts from that of a shy, reserved guy into one of the most maliciously evil men portrayed on tv.  And, as a mentioned, Cranston grabs hold of this role and creates one of the best acting performances I've ever seen.

***SPOILERS AHEAD***
He's certainly aided by a writing staff (presumably headed by series creator Vince Gilligan) who have crafted a sixty-two episode series that takes place over the course of only two years (and, for the most part, only over the span of one year) which allows the audience to become invested greatly in every character that comes along because their stories are given time to be fleshed out.  Whether it be drug kingpin Gus Fring's (Giancarlo Esposito) years-long revenge plot against some Mexican drug cartel members or even something as idiotic as Walt's sister-in-law Marie's (Betsy Brandt) shoplifting (a plot which admittedly could've been excised), the characters surrounding Walt were given ample opportunity to breathe for themselves.

Although I tried to steer clear of all spoilers, I was well aware of some negative buzz surrounding Anna Gunn's character of Walt's wife Skyler and I have no clue from where the anger and resentment towards her character stems.  To me, Skyler's actions and reactions upon learning of her husband's deviant behavior are justified and perfectly natural.  Yes, Walt was a character the public was able to latch onto despite his journey to the dark side, but Skyler anchored the audience back into reality and it's her reactions that made the show have great depth to this viewer.

Still, throughout the whole series I was waiting for the moment when Hank (Dean Norris), Walt's DEA brother-in-law, discovered Walt's secret life and the entirety of Season Five gave me satisfaction when it came to this, particularly the series' final eight episodes.  Despite all the dealings with drug kingpins and crack addicts, it was Walt's duplicity of hiding things from his family that really drew me in...and that moment when Hank and Marie stare at a tv screen hearing Walt's "confession" is probably my favorite moment in the show encapsulating everything I loved about it.

And I've yet to mention Aaron Paul's Jesse, a character whom I hated, then grew to like, then hated, and then grew to like again multiple times throughout the series.  Who would've thought that this low-life drug addict would end up being Breaking Bad's moral center?  Certainly not me, yet Paul gives Jesse a real intelligence that I never expected.

With all this great acting and great storytelling, I'd be remiss not to discuss the fact that the show is directed in a top-notch fashion as well.  There are shots here that rival anything you'd see in a movie and the helmers of the episodes are to be commended for that.  Also, rather randomly, I'd like to mention how much I loved the opening scenes of all the episodes that either hinted at (oftentimes horrific) things to come or were just completely odd (the montage of crack addict/prostitute Wendy selling oral pleasures to men while The Association's "Windy" played in the background is another classic moment).

Admittedly, I'm not sure I'll become invested in the upcoming/proposed "prequel" series surrounding Saul Goodman as he was actually one of my least favorite parts of the series.  Yes, his levity gave a nice counterpoint to the heaviness that surrounded him, but he's not a character I can find myself latching onto in the same way I became fascinated with Walter White.

I was talking to someone the other day about Breaking Bad and he mentioned that, like me, he watched one episode and then gave up thinking that it wasn't for him at all.  To those of you who did this same thing, you're missing out on some good tv here and it's time to give this one another chance.

2 comments:

  1. ****SPOILERS*****
    Definitely glad to see this post. I completely agree with the power of Bryan Crantson's performance. To have this character that I was so rooting for in the first season become such an entirely different man was just such a unique viewing experience.By the series finale I didn't know what I wanted to happen to him. It was so satisfying to finally have the admission that his actions weren't all this noble quest for his family but for himself.

    I must admit, I was a Skylar hater. Looking over the series as a whole, I don't exactly know what exactly it was, but something about her just really annoyed me. However, throughout season 4 and 5 she really won me over.

    The moment when Hank finally discovers the truth was one I was eagerly awaiting and was not disappointed by. Hank was another character I didn't like at first but at other points became one of my favorites. I don't ever remember having the same edge of my seat feeling as I did during the One Minute scene in season 3. I watched the series myself and once my fiance started watching it I've rewatched episodes with him. Because he's a cop now he has this bizarre connection to Hank and watching him shout at the screen for Hank to "remember his training" was hilarious. He hasn't yet finished season 5 and tells me that his ideal ending is that Walt and Skylar die and Hank and Marie raise Walter Jr. and Holly.

    Jesse won me over with his interaction with the little boy in Peakaboo. Paul's performance was amazing in that he took this character that easily could have been nothing but a stereotype and throwaway character into a sympathetic memorable character. Of course, the excellent writing helped with that as well.

    Gah, there is so much more to say and I feel like I could ramble on so much more (how disturbing Todd's character was, the parallel when Walt rolls Holly over in case she throws up in the same episode were he lets Jane die, the joy of Badger and Skinny Pete, etc) I best stop here. I will say that I was a huge fan of the series not just for the characters and story, but that it didnt glorify being invovled in meth and showed so many different outcomes of how it can destroy.

    So glad you came to the Breaking Bad party!

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  2. SPOILERS AHEAD...
    I'm happy to have read your first paragraph in that your allegiance to Walt somewhat shifted in Season 5. I think my allegiance started to waver when he ran over and subsequently shot the two drug dealers that were coming after Jesse. While I understood his actions, I maybe came to the realization that he was in way too deep.

    I can only assume that the Skyler hatred stems from the fact that she was the only person who was vehemently against our (flawed) protagonist. Personally, what I loved about Skyler and her dynamic with Walt was that I believed EVERY SINGLE SECOND of it. Her reactions, her words, her emotions -- all were spot on and the way I believed any rational human would've reacted and I loved that the writers captured that in a way that felt "right." She had some stellar moments -- "I have to protect this family from the man protecting this family" probably being my favorite.

    I honestly thought Hank was gonna bite the dust in Season Three (?) when he got shot. I was going to be thoroughly disappointed had that been the case as I had been waiting probably 40 episodes or so for a confrontation to happen between Hank and Walt and I would've been robbed of that had Hank been killed so early in the series. Poor Hank...I will say that something I hated actually was Hank's final phone call to Marie. The reciprocated "I love you's" clued me in that something bad was definitely going to happen.

    As I said, Jesse as a character is the person I flipped back and forth on the most. Like you said, at the surface, his character seems utterly (stereo)typical, but through his relationships with Jane and later Andrea and Brock, we got to see more depth. In the final season, his standing up to Walt was great stuff.

    Final thought on Todd -- when Season Five started, I was asked what I thought of Todd and I said, "I kinda like him. Seems like just some dumb kid who's along for the ride." Quite honestly, Todd ended up being one of the scariest guys portrayed in the series. I mean, sure, his freakish uncle and his friends were frightening, too, but Todd was always so damn calm, it ended up being very unnerving when you look back and think about it.

    Thanks for writing...I've yet to talk to anyone about it -- haven't seen anyone who's finished it since I've finished it, so it was fun to discuss!

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